"I'm meeting Sheila here for tennis," Andi informed us as if that were great news.

Not Sheila MacGregor, too!I thought. Of all the girls who hang around with Robert's old crowd of friends, Andi and Sheila are not the

worst. Not by far. I even sort of like Andi. But I wasn't in the mood to hang out with them today. I didn't want them spoiling this time with Robert.

You see, lately Robert has been spending less and less time with his old crowd and I want it to stay that way. Those kids have caused me so much grief, you wouldn't believe it. They almost got me in trouble for shoplifting, and I even stopped hanging around with my real friends because of them.

Sure, they're popular kids and all, but I think their values are the pits.They're not what I'd call true friends at all.

Believe me, I know what real friends are because I have them. Seven of them to be exact. Kristy, Mary Anne, Abby, Claudia (my very best friend), Mallory, Jessi, and Dawn. (Even though Dawn has moved to California, she's still a friend.) When you add me — Stacey McGill — we make up eight devoted friends who would do anything for one another. We're even in a club together, the Babysitters Club. I'll tell you more about that later.

For now, though, let me get back to the story of my ruined summer day. (Well, almost ruined, anyway.)

I definitely didnot like the way Robert was smiling at Andi. Not that Robert isn't allowed to smile at other people. That would be ridiculous. But it was theway he was smiling that bothered me. He was smiling with his eyes and his mouth, smiling as though he were really glad to be talking to Andi.

Andi was telling Robert this supposedly funny story about how a friend of theirs, Jacqui Grant, got caught going from movie to movie at the quadraplex in the Washington Mall. I know it's not the worst crime on earth, but still, those kids are always doing things like that. They're always getting into trouble and they seem to think it's funny.